New York’s 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers has put the Knicks two wins from the NBA Finals, and it has put Miles McBride in the middle of a run that feels personal in Cincinnati as much as it does in Cleveland. Game 3 was scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday in Cleveland, with the Knicks trying to move one step closer to the franchise’s first Finals appearance since 1999.
McBride, now in his fifth season in the NBA and with the Knicks every step of the way, has become part of that push with steady production and a timely scoring burst. He averaged 12 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists for New York, then delivered a postseason career-high 25 points on May 10 in the Knicks’ series-clinching win at Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinal. He made 7 of 9 shots from 3-point range that night, the kind of outing that can change a playoff game before it changes a series.
For the McBride family, the moment reaches far beyond box scores. Miles is a 2019 graduate of Moeller, where he won Division I state championships in 2018 and 2019 before moving on to West Virginia University and then the professional game. He was also a high school quarterback, a background that still fits the way his family talks about him now — disciplined, direct and hard to catch slacking. Walt McBride said his son is a workaholic, describing him as the first one in and the last one out.
That same drive has shown up in the way Miles has carried himself with the Knicks, a team now chasing its first NBA championship since 1973. Walt McBride said he expects the family to be in Cleveland on Saturday night, and that the support has grown far beyond the immediate circle. He said he has been surprised by how many Knicks fans he runs into in Cincinnati and at road games, and even the students around Roger Bacon have leaned into the run, stopping him to talk about his son and the team.
Walt McBride knows the basketball path well. He played professionally after competing at Xavier University and Summit Country Day, and he later coached at the high school level. The family also includes Kim, Trey and Kristen, with Trey now playing professionally in Germany. But this postseason has made Miles the face of the clan, the one Cincinnati keeps tracking as the Knicks try to turn a 2-0 start into something bigger. If New York keeps this pace, Saturday in Cleveland could be remembered as the night the franchise’s latest title chase took a serious step forward.
